Festival Center at SteelStacks to begin as early as spring

ArtsQuest looking for donors for $5 million second phase of SteelStacks arts and cultural campus

ArtsQuest president Jeff Parks said in a statement that community support… (Donna Fisher/The Morning…)

January 13, 2011|By Nicole Radzievich, OF THE MORNING CALL

Having raised $26.6 million for its new SteelStacks performing arts center, ArtsQuest is now focusing on turning an old Bethlehem Steel building into an indoor concert hall.

The second phase of the SteelStacks campaign will try to raise $5 million to transform Steel's old Turn-and-Grind Shop into 20,000 square feet for exhibitions, performances, concerts, community programs and other ArtsQuest programs.

ArtsQuest, which also runs Musikfest, plans to begin construction on the Festival Center at SteelStacks this spring and expect it to take 10 months to complete.

"The support from the community has enabled us to significantly move up our time-line for developing the Festival Center at SteelStacks," ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks said in a statement. "We are committed to moving forward with this campaign so that we can complete the transformation of this building and incorporate it into the programming on the SteelStacks campus as soon as possible."

ArtsQuest said it has already secured a $2 million state grant for the project and is launching a "Give and Get Campaign," which gives donors permanent name recognition at the ArtsQuest complex in south Bethlehem.

The restoration plans for the Turn-and-Grind Shop, done by Artefact of Bethlehem, include a new roof, windows, doors, roof truss improvements, brick pointing, new flooring, utilities and remediation of lead-based paint. The crane that runs through the building will be retained and offer visitors a glimpse of what the building was like in Steel's heyday.

The Festival Center would complete a 10-acre campus at SteelStacks arts and cultural campus. Opening this spring is ArtsQuest Center – complete with a two-screen arts cinema, Musikfest Café and other amusements – and PBS 39 Broadcast Studios. Also being developed there is the Bethlehem Landing visitor center and Levitt Pavilion, which will host free concerts.